Sheer Grit
by Sara Loui
Summary: After a accident offworld, Sam has to keep her cool whilst getting Cameron and Daniel home. rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: "Stargate SG-1" and its characters are the property of MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Film Corp., Showtime/Viacom and USA Networks, Inc. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended.

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_**Sheer Grit**_

_Present_

Sam gritted her teeth and tightened her arms further around her legs as she crouched in the undergrowth. The rain had started more like a fine mist, but it had gotten denser until large droplets had started to fall. The large drops had turned quickly into a pelting madness and she'd just managed to stow herself and Cameron under a dense bush as the heavy rain thundered through the branches of the trees. Looking down she un-wrapped a hand from around her knees and pressed her fingers to Cameron's forehead. He was still out cold, and the rain wasn't helping the situation they were in. Spying out through the branches she checked on Daniel through a blemished view of rain. He too gritted his teeth as he crouched under another bush not far away, holding tightly to his arm which was held by a temporary sling.

Sam hoped the rain would just be a passing shower, or they would be forced to continue on despite the weather conditions. She didn't rate Cameron's chances of being able to survive without medical attention much longer, and despite his determination, she knew Daniel couldn't take much more walking either. Sam merely hoped and prayed that they were on the right course, following the right direction and they would be back at the Stargate, in sight of home once more.

For the moment, she leaned back on the thick branch of a trunk, which snaked up through the bush and tried to rest. Ignoring the fatigue and hunger, the cold and tiredness threatening to envelop she forced her mind to consider her predicament and focus on getting themselves home. For the umpteenth time she wished Teal'c was there with them, she missed his quiet strength and encouragement. As she pondered on thoughts of the fourth member of the team, she felt a change in the rain, as it slowed slightly. Peering out from her shelter she also noticed a change in Daniel.

Wiping a hand over her face to ease the water as it poured down her face, she sat up suddenly and watched. With a glance down to Cameron, she forced herself up from her seat and climbed from her shelter and approached Daniel. His eyes were closed although he still gritted his teeth in pain and she watched as his fingers started losing their grip from where he had wrapped them as secondary support to his arm.

"Daniel" said Sam crouching by him.

Getting no response, she placed a hand on his shoulder softly.

"Daniel?" she said again urging him to open his eyes, gaining a little response as Daniel shrugged his shoulder softly, Sam knelt and lifted her hand to his jaw.

"Daniel open your eyes" she raised her voice and gave command as she would a fellow officer. She couldn't afford to have Daniel zoning out on her either. It was enough to drag Cameron on the makeshift stretcher without having to contend with Daniel being unable to walk. With a sigh of relief Sam watched as Daniel responded to her heed, his eyes barely opening.

"That's it...ok" muttered Sam to herself, her fingers lightly tapping his cheek "Come on Daniel, the rains easing off, we should start moving again"

Daniel responded by grunting slightly and opening his eyes fully, piercing her with a stare. Sam smiled and sat back her fingers running along the line of his jaw before she looked behind her back to where Cameron lay, half shielded by overgrowth. Standing she looked down at Daniel and offered him a hand as he made to stand slowly.

"Let's go"

She knew she was in full Colonel mode as she put forward the request more as an order to Daniel. Sam knew it would be the only thing to get her through this ordeal without losing anyone else. She thanked anyone who listened to her heart, for not putting anyone in pursuit of them. Enemies she could deal with, but not with two men down and no back up. Hopefully Daniel would understand that her barking out orders was the only way at the moment she could operate without losing her composure.

As Daniel stood and leaned back on a tree exhausted Sam made her way back to Mitchell and dragged the stretcher, made up of backpacks and logs slinged together, out from under the bushes. Cameron was still unconscious as Sam re positioned herself at the other side of the stretcher and lifted up the edge. She pushed away thoughts that this was the insanest idea for a rescue, and that the tilting of the stretcher as she dragged it, wouldn't be doing any good for whatever injuries Cameron had picked up in the rock fall.

Doggedly determined, she gritted her teeth as a mist settled about them once more, the rain finally ceasing, and eyed Daniel, who seemed to thrive on her determination and bent his head down starting to walk in front of her. There was a makeshift path already worn from years past, weaving through the trees and they'd made a joint decision to follow it as it led in the general direction they assumed they had to go.


	2. Chapter 2

_21 hours earlier_

Stepping out from the gate into glorious sunshine, Sam pulled her sunglasses from an upper pocket of her protective vest and peered around the clearing, gun poised. There had been no visible signs of activity from the scans but you could never be too careful, SG-6 had already been to the planet previously, but as always they took precaution. After a quick sweep of the surrounding area and finding no sign of dangerous activity, she and Cameron had turned to Daniel and Lieutenant Parker for their Intel. Daniel had been on the last visit with SG-6 and had of course been highly interested in a small ruin they had discovered on the mission.

With Teal'c visiting Dakarra and with no higher important missions to bide their time General Landry had agreed to a short mission to P4X-897 for Daniel to gather more information. Sam sighed, as the two men led the way towards a dense tree line not far from the Stargate. Had it not been for Mitchell's enthusiasm of going off world, all the time, she may have been sitting idly at home relaxing for a short while. Cameron was still going through the adrenaline of travelling to different worlds. Ok so it was still a perk, but the idea of travelling off world to look at ancient ruins didn't hold much in the excitement department, well for Sam. Daniel had jumped, literally, at the chance of gating back to the planet. Gen. Landry had agreed to let Lt Parker accompany them as he had a soft spot of sorts for anything old and dusty. An almost kindred spirit for Daniel, as neither Sam nor Cameron shared his obsession for ruins.

She and Cameron had fell into step behind the two, and she found herself answering a series of questions about wormhole physics and theory. Rolling her eyes she side glanced Cameron, and wondered whether going into an in-depth tirade on the subject would make him quit asking questions. Cameron was always full of questions at times like these, and it got a little irritating after a while. It was almost like having Jonas back on the team, in the early months when he questioned everything about earth, humans and their ways.

The ruin was a good two hours walk away, but after a short ramble through the forest, they were soon back in the open air, the sun beating down on them and Sam decided that perhaps it wasn't such a bad way to spend the time. Cameron had gotten bored of the wormhole theory discussion and instead turned the conversation to Sg-1 and the teams past.

"So...favourite ever mission"

"S'cuse me?" asked Sam, taking in the view as they walked.

"What's your favourite ever mission you've been on"

Sam pondered on the question. Missions always had a habit of turning sour in one way or another, so none stuck in her mind as being favourably enjoyable. She pursed her lips and didn't answer, but Cameron jabbed her in the shoulder and pushed her playfully.

"Come on Sam, you gotta have a favourite"

"You mean between being chased by snakeheads, bugs, super warriors, tortured, kidnapped, becoming a tok'ra host against my will..."

"Yup," grinned Cameron "Between all of that, you gotta have a memorable occasion"

"Oh they are all memorable" replied Sam with a smile.

"Cut a guy a break here"

"Ok...well I guess the mission we were on, when my dad got received his symbiote, Selmak. That was memorable, and proved to be one of the happier occasions in the end"

"There ya see," nodded Cameron

Sam gave him a smile and gazed off into the distance one more, Cameron had a knack of smiling constantly, which also brought back memories of Jonas Quinn.

"What about you Jackson?" he asked to Daniel, who looked back, over his shoulder a moment at the two

"Oh I suppose waking up naked on a strange planet was one of the more memorable occasions for me...then there was the time I phase shifted and couldn't make contact with people...the time I was infected by a alien parasite and was locked up in a mental institution"

"Oh and the time we got sent back to 1969...that was a goodie" added Sam "Oh and my favourite, the time a Goa'uld queen took over the base by using a pheromone to brainwash all the men"

"Yes I seem to remember you and Janet enjoying reminding us of that as much as you could for a short time afterwards thank you Sam" replied Daniel over his shoulder.

Sam smiled over to Mitchell who was staring almost open mouthed. Lt Parker glanced over to Daniel with a grin, having heard of the missions and having met some grizzly bizarre experiences of his own with his tenure at SGC. He remembered the Hathor incident clearly having been one of the many men on the base to have gotten caught up in it.

"Guess you've still got some missions to read up on Cam" Sam grinned, returning a pat to his shoulder as they walked on.

Two hours later they came into sight of the ruin, it was based at the tip of a crevice and base of a large sloping rock face. Not exactly the gracious of spots to build a temple of sorts as it looked from the outside. However Daniel was just as eager to enter and study it.

"Ok Jackson, Parker go do your thing. Me and Carter will check out the area"

Daniel and Parker entered the temple as Cameron and Sam split off in opposite directions around the ruin. Sam followed the tree line, which lay close to the southside of the temple, finding nothing of particular interest or importance. She followed the perimeter of the temple, coming to the edge of the crevice as the ruin curved round onto its west face. She looked down into the crevice, rocks lay dishevelled down the cliff face and some of the west side wall looked as if it had at some point of another, succumbed to gravity and fallen on its merry way.

"Doesn't look to promising"

Looking up, she saw Cameron standing at the opposite side, looking down the crevice also.

"Nothing to report on this side," she said

"Negative here too" replied Cameron "Meet you east side again, there's no way anyone can pass this way, unless their going down"

Sam nodded and after another swift glance down the crevice, retreated back along the side of the ruin, emerging from the tree line to see Cameron heading for the entrance.

"Ten bucks says Jackson's already found something to take back with us"

Sam nodded and followed him into the ruin. Dust flittered down the walls as they walked through narrow hallway.

"Jackson?" said Mitchell in a raised voice, as the hallway opened up into a larger expanse. Neither Daniel nor Lt Parker were to be seen, doorways led into rooms off the main hall.

More dust fell from the ceiling as Cameron spoke and he held his tongue, instead listening for any sings of the two. Sam felt uneasy as they made their way towards one of the doorways; guns raised using their light to guide their way. A scuffling could be heard before Daniel's head appeared from the doorway.

"Hey guys," he said, frowning slightly as Cameron raised his gun higher at his appearance before sighing and lowering it once more "You gotta see this"

Exchanging mocking glances, Sam followed Daniel into another narrow hallway followed by Cameron. It opened up into a smaller room, with engravings on the wall; altars made from slabs of rock stood on the opposite side.

"Ok...I see it...what exactly are we looking at?" asked Cameron, shining his light over the eerie dwelling

"Well a temple of some sort, there are a few things I want to take back with me, there another room like this one on the opposite side with items. Parker's there now bagging some up"

"Ten bucks for me" muttered Cameron under his breath to Sam.

Sam smiled and tried to ignore him, raising her light to look over the walls of the temple.

"Do you recognise the writings?"

"Not exactly, I'm going to take some etchings, see what I can come up with"

"Well there's nothing of interest on the outer walls, no writings, no carvings or statues surrounding this place" replied Sam

"And it seems the west side face may have went on a little ride downhill" added Cameron

"Well this temple may have been here for hundreds of years, so it could be a case or rock erosion. That or possible landslide, minor quake unsettling the rocks that sort of thing. I'll take a look later, should be able to tell from the way the walls have broken away from the temple itself." Said Daniel, engrossing himself with one of the walls and its writing.

"Landslides? Minor quakes?" asked Cameron with a whisper to Sam

"Don't worry nothing showed up on the scans we made before gating in, and SG-6 made no reports on any kind of seismic activity either" replied Sam

"But it could happen?" said Cameron following Sam as they left Daniel in the small room back into the outer chamber.

"Cameron, your on a mission, we're Sg-1..." said Sam heading outside once more before muttering "Of course it could happen"


	3. Chapter 3

And it had happened, completely unexpected, catching them totally unawares. Sam and Cameron had been monitoring Daniel and Parker's progress as they explored outside. The temple was too confining for either of them to tolerate being inside so long. A heavy mist had started to descend from the upper cliff face and they had retreated back to the temple, in case they lost their bearings. The mist settled quickly like a thick fog around them and Sam felt another uneasy feeling run down her spine. The two decided retreating into the temple and waiting out the sudden change of weather from the inside. Parker and Daniel were quite happy with the arrangement and continued on their merry way with their findings.

"This mist sticks around for long, we'll have trouble getting to the gate to report back on time" said Cameron, peering from the confines of the narrow entrance hall.

"This rock face isn't going to make it easy to make radio contact with the malp either added Sam "If we don't report in ourselves SGC will dial in that way and try and contact us"

"Maybe I should make my own way there, report in"

"I don't think that's a good idea. That's a thick fog, you could easily get disoriented and lose your way. The gates a good two hours walk from here"

"So we wait it out?"

"When the SGC don't hear word, they'll be able to pick up from the malp what the conditions are like. They should come up with the conclusion that we're stranded here for the time being. Send help when they can, by which time we should be able to get out of here and make contact anyway"

"How come no scans picked up on this weather change in the first place" said Cameron, miffed to be stuck inside a small enclosed place with dust tittering down its walls with every move he made

"Time of the year. Freak occurrence, who knows" replied Sam shrugging her shoulders "The weather changes constantly on earth, only we can judge it because we have weather channels, systems monitoring it every second. We don't monitor the changes of weather on every planet we visit. This may be a yearly occurrence, a weekly occurrence, a monthly occurrence. Or it could happen once every fifty years and we just happened to be here at the time. With no natives to this planet, and SG-6 not reporting any such change, we had no way of knowing it would happen"

They retreated further into the temple, and settled themselves in for the wait, both hoping it would pass quickly. Daniel and Parker had retreated into the farthest room, having found some interesting etchings.

"That does not sound good" muttered Cameron, sitting up sharply and cocking his head, looking over at Sam. She returned his look with a frown and stood, gun poised.

A low rumbling sounded once more, a few moments after, the noise muffled by the walls of the temple.

"What the hell..." started Cameron

"Ssh" Sam raised her hand to silence him and edged towards the doorway listening. The thick fog blocked any view to the outside, but the rumbling could be heard louder. Cameron pressed in close behind her, also listening. Silence answered them, but Sam stood still, the uneasy feeling she had been feeling, rising back up inside her. The rumbling happened again, this time sounding more distinctive and clear.

"Thunder?" asked Cameron

Sam had thought the same thing, the change in the weather from hot warm sun to dark sky and fog certainly leant a logical solution to the sound.

"Yeah" answered Sam softly in agreement

"Thankfully we've got some nice shelter here, if its followed by wet weather" sighed Cameron, lowering his gun and returning back into the main hall. Sam stared outside, unable to muster as easy going a feeling as Cameron about the situation. She listened once more, as another low rumble occurred, it seemed to be growing louder. Backing up into the hall, Sam leaned on a wall and crouched down with a slight uncertainty.

"I'm gonna check on how Parker and Jackson are doing" declared Cameron standing and pointing his light to the doorway at the other end of the room. As he crossed the small space, a louder rumble echoed through to them, and this time the old temple walls responded by showering dust down over them.

"Holy crap" muttered Cameron under his breath, swinging his light back to the entrance "Looks like we may be in for the long haul by the sound of it"

Sam stood and dusted off her shoulders, watching dust mingle down in front of her from the ceiling. She pointed her light upwards and gazed at the high ceiling, her light swallowed up by the darkness, unable to provide her with much of a view of the roof.

Cameron disappeared into the narrow corridor leading to the end room and left Sam alone in the main hall. A few moments later her radio crackled into life.

"Sam you may want to come and check this out" said Cameron through the radio.

Making her way towards the corridor, another roll of thunder rumbled outside and this time she felt a shiver of motion run under feet as more dust crackled down from the walls of the temple. Sam was feeling more and more uneasy about their situation and made her way down the narrow corridor. She was about to suggest perhaps retreating back outside, when another rumble echoed down to her, louder than the others and this time she was knocked off balance by the thunder as the foundations shook beneath her. This part of the temple was towards the west side, and if it looked unstable from the outside, she doubted with this type of activity distressing the old walls, that the inside was stable either. She caught her balance on one of the walls and coughed as dust filled her mouth and nose as it stormed up around her.

"Cameron," she said softly, receiving no answer, she pressed her fingers to her radio "Mitchell, I suggest we retreat back to the main hall, this part of the temple isn't safe and the thunder rolls are getting louder and closer together."

"Agreed" came back the reply, before another crash shook the foundation walls once more and knocked Sam against the wall she was leaning on. Sam spun as she felt something hard fall behind her, and shone her light onto the floor, making out large pieces of rock lying at her feet.

"Pick up the pace people, the roof isn't going to hold much longer" she ordered urgently into her radio. All she received was a crackled signal.

"Mitchell...Parker...Daniel"

The walls shook once more and propelled her further along the corridor. Lifting her hands she covered her head as more fragments of rock dissolved from overhead. She stumbled forward into the room and spied Parker grasping hold of one of the walls.

"Parker, you ok" Sam had to raise her voice over the noise as the foundations creaked and another rumble could be heard

Parker nodded and Sam could see a gash on his head and blood starting to trickle down his forehead. At least he was standing and responding, she turned her attention to the other two men.

"Daniel? Cameron?"

"Over here"

Sam peered in the direction of Daniel's voice and made out another doorway at the far side. 

"May be our only way out" Daniel shouted over to her.

Sam made her way quickly over to Parker, as he leaned heavily on the wall, pressing a palm to his forehead. Propping him up with arm about his waist, Sam propelled the both of them across the room towards Daniel. They stumbled over fallen ceiling as the ground shook beneath them and finally reached Daniel.

"Mitchell's went ahead already, check how safe it is," said Daniel when they reached him. Sam shone her light back into the room as more rock fell from above and the walls slowly crumbled.

"We may not be able to wait for him to come back. We can't get back the way we came in, the roof was coming down behind me" replied Sam, summing up the situation. For now the vibrations seemed to have paused. Deciding to wait a few moments for Cameron, she propped Parker up against the wall and reached for her radio once more.

"Cameron?" she shouted into it "Mitchell this is Carter, come in"

Radio crackle was all that replied and as another vibration shook the room, Sam realised they had no choice. With a mere glance at Daniel he entered the dark hallway and she grabbed hold of Parker once more who was becoming clearly disorientated from the knock on his head. As the made their way along the corridor, the floor dipped and sloped downwards and Sam had to lean against the wall, holding onto Parker as the shaking underfoot caused them to lurch forward.

"Daniel you ok" she yelled in front of her

"Yeah, this is getting steeper though, watch your footing" Daniel yelled back to her

Sam shone her light in front of her, catching a glimpse of Daniel's back. Standing straighter once more she continued on, aware the vibrations weren't getting any easier as they descended downwards. The walls were starting to change from the smooth walls of the temple, to harder rock like the crevice and Sam deducted they were descending into the crevice itself. Perhaps some sort of passageway had been hewn into the rock leading to the temple. It caused more problems however as the rock falling on top of them was less prone to dissolving into crumbling dust and instead pelted hard against them. Bowing her head and shifting her grip around Parker's waist Sam continued on slowly.

It was then that she heard a yell ahead of her, before it was drowned out by the sound of falling rock behind them.

"Daniel?" she shouted ahead of her, shining her light and not seeing him ahead "Daniel"

Shouting more urgently, Sam propelled herself forward, Parker in tow. The ground shifted even steeper before them and Daniel couldn't be seen. Sam forced herself not to panic over the prospect of Daniel having lost his footing and slipping down the pathway. The walls still closed them in sheltering them from the outside, but the corridor was wide enough for someone to easily fall and roll down at quite a speed if they weren't careful. Sam paused as the slope started under her feet and loosened her grip of the Lieutenant, moving ahead of him as a barrier.

"Ok Parker were going to take this nice and slow ok." She ordered, bracing herself with a hand on the rock face and her other hand shining the light at her feet.

Slowly they made their descent on uneven ground. 


	4. Chapter 4

_Present_

Sam paused for a breath and shifted her grip on the stretcher, the mist was finally starting to dissipate making it easier for too see where they were heading. They'd been walking in silence for the past hour, Daniel pacing slowly in front of her shoulders hunched forward. They were nearing the edge of the forest they'd been trekking through, and Sam hoped the clearing would shed some light on their position, or at least offer the chance to try and make contact with any teams who may have come to the planet in aid of rescue.

Pushing the tired ache threatening to turn into severe pain from her arms and back, she continued on head down, with a stubborn stamina. Her head shot up suddenly as she noticed Daniel move direction and feared fatigue had finally caught up with him and he had stumbled. Instead Daniel, having caught sight of something up ahead, had shifted position to take cover and retreat back to her position.

Sam followed his movements and dragged the stretcher from the main path, gently laying it by the side of large plants, which lined the route. Cautiously she made her way forward to meet with Daniel.

"What is it?" she asked as she came to a halt by Daniel's side.

"Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse" murmured Daniel, settling on his haunches and leaning on a thick tree trunk for support "Prior"

Sam processed the word slowly, as if he'd spoken it by accident. She sat back, straightening her aching back and stared ahead of her, expletives running through her head. Daniel merely stared at her, too tired to consider any of their options or offer any solution. Sam looked at him squarely before glancing back to where she'd left Cameron.

"Come on, we have to get off this path" she ordered quietly to Daniel, who merely nodded softly.

Retreating back to Cameron, Sam scanned the path before looking about the undergrowth. Picking up the edge of the stretcher with a new resolve, she shifted direction and dragged it through the plants further into the jungle of plants and bushes growing up about them. Daniel followed slowly, and Sam didn't miss the look of pain starting to etch his features. The arm injury and lack of painkillers was becoming an obvious problem. After dragging Cameron well out of the way of the path, she lay the stretcher down and helped Daniel settle down by it. The fact that Cameron hadn't awoke for over two hours was also worrying her. He hadn't been completely lucid before but he'd managed to respond somewhat to her until he'd passed out completely. She hoped it was more from pain and tiredness than internal injuries. Checking him quickly once more, she rearranged herself, clipping her gun to her vest and sliding a spare magazine into a pocket.

Settling by Daniel, she lay a hand over his forehead, and he gave her a wan smile. She took the radio from his vest pocket and lay it in his hand.

"I'm going to scan the area, see where he's headed and see if I can pinpoint where we are. Hopefully the radio will work through this dense plantation. Anything happens, any change with Cameron or you, radio me ok..."

"Sam..." started Daniel, unsure that she should be going alone

Sam ignored him and slipped the zat from her hip holster lying it by his side.

"Not sure how much good this will do," said Sam, looking over at Cameron once more before making a move.

Daniel managed to muster up enough strength to catch hold of her arm before she moved. Pausing she lay a hand over his and squeezed it gently.

"I won't be long, stay here and stay hidden"

With that she pulled away and started making a slow approach towards the tree line, this time avoiding the path and keeping in the undergrowth. Scouting an area, which gave enough coverage to stay hidden without deterring her view, she settled herself amidst the large overflowing leaves a plant. The Prior was walking parallel to her, in the opposite direction they had come from. The forest ended and opened up into a large expanse of open fields, not offering any coverage. The prior walked slowly, staff swinging back and forth as they paced forward. Sam took out her field glasses and tilted them towards him to get a better view. He chanted as he walked and she wondered why a Prior would bother staying on an uninhabited planet. Taking her attention from the prior for a moment, she scanned the surrounding views. Following the direction the prior was headed, the open space started to rise onto rockier ground, and Sam wondered if the cliffs it rolled into were the ones the temple had been built at the base of.

Lowering her field glasses she pondered on the thought and calculated in her mind, the direction they'd come from. It would make sense to go the way that the prior had come, he'd have had to come through from the Stargate. However he could have been exploring some other area first before heading here. Sam slowly slid herself back into the cover of the bush and forced her mind to go over the possibilities. From what she'd been able to summarise in her head, they'd ended up at the base of the crevice. And had to travel around the perimeter and upwards into the forest which lay behind the cliffs. Fatigue and hunger were starting to take their toll on her as her mind wandered over how long they'd been walking, and if they'd followed the correct direction. Compasses couldn't go wrong, but her judgement may have been.

She punched a fist into the ground and inwardly berated herself. She was trained for this; she was trained to endure worse than this. This should be a breeze, she knew what she was doing, and she had people relying on her to get them all home safely. Shaking her head and pushing all negative what if? Questions from her mind. Emerging once more slightly from the large leaves which sheltered her, she scanned the terrain once more, the prior continued on his way and she turned her attention to the direction he'd come from.

There was a chance that they could stay in the dense cover of the forest and make their way back to the Stargate that way. The forest had lined their way as they'd made their way to the temple, albeit as a picturesque edging to their trek. After walking for twenty minutes when they had arrived through the trees they'd been free of them. Going back to the Stargate via through the forest meant following the direction of the tree line, and that curved outwardly, probably adding more hours to their already long drawn out return. Getting the stretcher through the forest, off the path would be no mean feat. Sam doubted they'd reach even half the way before it got too dark for them to continue.

They had little choice, she prayed once more to whoever listened to her prayers, that the prior would stay away from them and either continue on his way and or get off the damned planet. She rested the sights of the binoculars on the prior as he headed up the steady incline towards the cliff faces.

"You start chanting and creating personal expanding shields around this planet for your buddies to build a super highway through the universe" muttered Sam to the distant figure "I swear I'll come back one way or another and beat your damned ass"

Sighing Sam sat back and rearranged herself a moment, crouching amidst the bush. Yanking her radio from the pocket on her vest and taking a breath, she depressed the button.

"This is Colonel Carter, to the SGC, do you read"

'Because the chances of them dialling the gate and receiving the signal are so high' she mused to herself, she knew radioing for any help, which may have landed on the planet, was a long shot, but it was a shot.

"This is Colonel Carter to any SGC teams…does anyone copy"

'If Landry had seen the conditions, he wouldn't have sent any teams in for the time being' Sam thought to herself 'And with prior activity in the area'

Sam frowned and turned from the clearing, heading back the way she came, lifting the radio to her mouth once more.

"Daniel"

"Yeah" came back the crackled reply after a pause

"I'm heading back to your position, you guys ok?"

"Yeah" replied Daniel, "I think Cameron may be coming too"

"Acknowledged, be with you in five"


	5. Chapter 5

_19 hours earlier_

The torch light of her gun barely pierced the dusty blackness which surrounded them, the path was getting steeper and more dangerous with each step and all Sam could hear was the rumbling vibrations of the walls about them becoming less and less stable. Their descent was painstakingly slow and difficult and not only was Sam worried about the Lieutenant behind her, but she was wondering why they hadn't come across neither Daniel nor Cameron.

The tremors were getting worse as they went further downward, but they had no choice but the keep going. Rocks rolled by their feet making each step more precarious than the last. Sam kept her weapons light trained on the ground directly ahead of her, as was relieved when she saw Daniel lying just ahead of her. He was half sheltering himself from the falling rocks, and holding his arm in pain. Sam trained her light on him as they approached the steep incline not making it easy for them but eventually she reached him and crouched gingerly beside him, aware that he was in pain.

"Daniel, you ok" she had to yell over the din of the tremors

"Yeah, just a little shook up" replied Daniel before gritting his teeth in pain and he tried to stand "Think I've broke my arm though, I took a fall from pretty high up there"

"Ok once we get down and out of this...crevice, we can take a look at it, but we gotta get down first" replied Sam firmly, broken arms could be fixed, broken skulls weren't as easy. "Can you stand?"

Daniel nodded and accepted her help of aid, as she helped drag him to his feet. The ground shook once more and they heard a louder rumbling echoing behind them. Sam spun her light to shine behind them, but all that greeted their scope was dust. Parker leaned heavily onto the wall as rock and grit showered down about them and rolled by their feet. Sam grimaced and turned back to face Daniel as they leaned on the wall for support. Offering each other faces of encouragement and assurance that they'd get out of the predicament safely, they slowly made their way to move off again.

Sam felt the tremor as it shifted almost beneath their feet throwing them off balance. She pressed herself to the rock face and waited, closing her eyes to the dust as it attacked her eyes. Coughing as the dust clouded about her, she heard an anguished short yelp above the din before something soft bumped her leg softly before disappearing. She knew something was wrong without even being aware of what exactly. As the tremor subsided she opened her eyes and leaned back slightly from the rock. Glancing to her left she saw the hunched over shadow of Daniel as he, like herself, clung to the rock. Turning to check on Parker, her light shone into emptiness beside where he had stood. She lowered her light and scanned the floor, hoping that he may have merely slipped to the ground, pushing away thoughts that the bump against her leg had definitely not been a falling piece of rock.

Sam breathed heavily, choking on the dust as she sucked in her breath and tried to retain her composure. The urge to bash the weapon and light into the wall in exasperation came and went and she turned to face Daniel.

"Parker must have fallen" she yelled "We gotta move"

Daniel needed no more heeding and moved on as quickly as he could muster himself to go. Sam unclipped the light from her gun and handed it to him, before placing a steady hand on his shoulder for support and gripping as much as she could to the jagged rock beside her. The ground vibrated softly, but Sam noticed the decline didn't seem to be as steep and the passageway started to widen and as Daniel shone the light ahead of them, they saw a wide opening ahead of them at the end on the tunnel they were moving along.

Cautiously they approached the opening and Daniel trained the light on the ground as it started to even out. The vibrations still reached them, and small pebbles and rocks fell around them as they entered what seemed to be a cave from the tunnel. The torchlight passed over a crumpled form near the entrance.

"Parker" Sam said under her breath before leaving Daniel's side to approach him "Daniel see if you can see Cameron in here"

Sam neared Parker, flinching inwardly at the way he was lying, and she quickly shirked her pack from her back. Crouching by him, rock pelting onto her body from above, she managed to turn him slightly towards her. In the darkness she fumbled with his weapon still attached to his vest and located the light. Flicking it on, she pressed her fingers to his neck and checked for a pulse. Relieved at feeling a beat however erratic under her fingertips, she tried to assess his injuries. His face was battered and cut from his fall, blood congealing with dirt and grit on his face and neck.

"Lieutenant can you hear me?" yelled Sam, leaning over the young man, searching his face for any sign of consciousness "Parker?"

She noticed a flinch on his brow as he tried to respond to her voice.

Sam looked over the rest of his body, and she could see there was something wrong, the way one of his legs lay unnaturally twisted, an arm lying limp over his chest where she'd turned him. She felt a hand lie on her shoulder and looked behind her to see Daniel standing by her.

"I've found Cameron," he shouted to her, she bent her head as a shower of rocks hailed down on top of them. "He's in pretty bad shape"

Sam merely nodded and looked over Parker once more, her mind whirring as to what to do for the both of them. Taking the light from the weapon on Parker's chest, she stood and turned to Daniel.

"Where's Cameron?" she asked

Daniel shone his light awkwardly his left.

"Seems to lead into another passage, a way out maybe." He told her "He may have been looking for a way out of this place, looks like he took a knock to the head. The passage doesn't seem as secure as the one we've just came through"

"Okay, stay here with Parker, I'm going to check on Cameron and see if I can find a way out of here" said Sam

She quickly left the two and crossed the cave in the direction Daniel had pointed to. Noticing another tunnel leading from the cave as it evened out, she approached cautiously, aware that more stone and rock crumbled from the walls with the constant vibrations around them. Entering the narrower space, she shone the light on the softer ground and walked a few step, soon finding Cameron lying half propped up on the wall. He shifted under the light and Sam felt a rush of relief at finding him as she knelt by him. He gave a wan smile as he looked at her, and she frowned at the gash on his head.

"Hey" he mumbled, before cursing under his breath as a rock ricocheted off the wall and bounced of his leg.

"You ok?" asked Sam, lying a hand softly on his arm, and taking in the gash on his head. She reached for his pack, which he'd obviously removed when he'd entered the passageway. Flipping it open she searched for the small med kit they were all kitted out with. Cameron grabbed her hand and tugged at her for her attention.

"Got not time for that, gotta get out of here" his words were becoming slurred and Sam withdrew her hand, pulling out the kit and taking out a thick wad of cotton. She pressed it to his head receiving another torrent of expletives from the Colonel. Flipping the med kit closed and pushing it back into the pack, she took Cameron's hand and pressed it against the thick cotton.

"Hold this and don't move" she ordered before standing and pointing her light down the rest of the tunnel.

She took a few tentative steps, forward before pausing and shining her torch along the walls and above her. Dust was falling at a rapid rate, accompanied by pebbles and stone, and it seemed to be getting heavier. Doubting they had much longer to get out before the ceiling feel in around them, she turned back to Cameron, crouching back down by him.

"I'm going to get Daniel and Lt Parker, bring them back here"

Cameron seemed glassy and stared almost through her, and she leaned closer into him.

"Cameron" she said, watching as he blinked and tried to focus "I'm going for the others ok"

"I ain't going anywhere" Cameron mumbled, failing to humour her.

Sam stood and made a quick retreat back into the inner room to Daniel and Parker. The Lieutenant was still lying unconscious by Daniel who was holding tightly to his injured arm, kneeling, shoulders hunched by the Lt. Crouching by Daniel, she lay a hand on his shoulder and he turned to her, Sam was caught off guard by the look on his face. He seemed almost defeated; unconvinced they could escape the predicament they were in.

"Daniel we gotta get out of here now, make your way back to Cameron, I'll get Parker"

Daniel shook his head and didn't move from his position.

"Daniel…" Sam shouted louder, tugging at his good arm softly

"He's dead Sam" Daniel interrupted her, refusing to move

Sam paused for a moment, taking in her friend's look before looking over the body of the Lieutenant once more.

"No, I checked his pulse, he was responding…" started Sam, thinking Daniel had merely taken in the state of the Lieutenant and assumed the worst. Daniel's look confirmed he wasn't just assuming.

Sam quickly move position to the other side of the younger mans body and pressed her fingers to his neck and wrist, feeling for the tell tale beat. Neither region gave any response. Sam fought a moment of frustration, which threatened to overwhelm her. Stone and dust rained down about her at a rapid rate and she slumped back on her haunches looking over the young man and making a decision she fumbled at the young Lieutenants neck, removing his dog tags. Under different circumstances she would have applied CPR, fought to bring him back, but right now, they needed out and fast, or none of them would survive. Tucking the tags into a vest pocket, she grabbed the pack and stood.

"Daniel we gotta go" she choked throughthe dust which was starting to cloud around them, building up with each falling rock.

Helping him stand, she propelled the both of them towards the narrow passageway, praying the same fate hadn't happened to Cameron. Rock was raining steadily down on them as they entered the tunnel and reached Cameron. He still sat against the wall, mumbling incoherently to himself and didn't respond as they crouched by him.

"Cameron" yelled Sam over the din of crumbling rock and rumbling above their heads. She shone the light to his face and he flinched at the light. At least he was responding somewhat. Sam took a moment to clear her head. Swinging the pack she held in her hand, onto her back she swiftly hooked back to her vest, and picked up the other. She quickly helped Daniel attach it to his own vest and turned back to Mitchell.

"Ok Cam can you stand?"

Again Cameron merely blinked at his surroundings, holding his hand to his head and mumbling. Sam gave a growl of frustration and leaned down closer to him, placing a hand under his chin and turning his face to hers.

"Colonel Mitchell, can you hear me?"

Cameron seemed to respond better to the commanding voice of an officer and nodded his head.

"Ok" sighed Sam under breath "Mitchell, we have to go, Can you stand?"

Cameron gave a slight nod and started to move painstakingly slowly.

"Daniel lead the way" ordered Sam, pulling Cameron's arm over her shoulder and dragging him to his feet. He leaned heavily onto her as they started to move forward, his feet barely lifted from the ground and Sam found herself taking most of his weight and dragging him along with her.

* * *

_(Just wanted to leave a quick note and say a very big thankyou for all the reviews/fb on this fic. FB/Reviews are always received graciously, and I usually like to reply to each one personally, but I haven't had the time this time round, so here's a big thanks to everyone and I hope you continue enjoying the fic...Sara Lou xx)_


	6. Chapter 6

_Present_

The dusk seemed to be settling in quickly and the dense tree network didn't help their cause as they moved slowly through the forestry. Sam's mind was already thinking ahead, as she'd assumed the going was slow and difficult, even more so now because Cameron was awake and very aware of each knock and bump the terrain caused the stretcher to bear. Already settling her mind on finding somewhere to settle for the night, Sam kept scanning the terrain ahead of her, vaguely aware that her arms were starting to put up a fight against the constant dragging of the makeshift stretcher as she went. It was one of numerous things constantly shifting through her mind but it seemed insignificant to the other things she needed to think about.

Alongside looking for a place to rest for the night, she kept close eye on Daniel also, who intermittently leaned on a thick tree trunk for rest as she caught up to his position. She kept checking to her right to make sure their path had stayed in an arc keeping them from the tree line and out of sight. She honed her ears to listen for any type of radioactivity however subtle, in the vain hope of the SGC or a team having gated in was looking for them. Sam also listened for any word from Cameron and was painfully aware of her task at getting him to safety. And in the midst of multi tasking her thoughts, the knowledge of a Prior somewhere about was also heavily present.

Sam was relieved when she saw the trees starting to dissipate slightly ahead and to the left of them, and directed Daniel to lead the way. Her body was starting to protest at the strain she was putting on herself by forcing herself to continue, and she concluded with herself, that they'd have to stop before nightfall so they could gather their bearings and settle themselves for the evening.

The trees were spread evenly out, providing enough shade with their long branches as well as enough space between hem to allow a little camp to be set up. Sam settled Cameron by a tree and pressed a water bottle to his hand as he painfully twisted slightly on the stretcher to drink.

"How you doing?" she asked him as she crouched by his side

"Been better…" replied Cameron "Been worse too"

He tried for a smile, but it ended as a grimace as pain crumpled his features. Sam took a mere moments rest, her legs protesting loudly against her as she pushed herself back to her feet and looked over to Daniel who had settled against a tree nearby.

"Daniel? You ok"

He merely nodded, appearing too tired to even speak.

"Well, you too keep each other company, I'm going to gather some stuff together"

"I'll help you out," said Daniel, finding his voice as he moved to stand once more. Sam shook her head and moved over to him, pushing him gently back to the ground

"No, you rest"

"Sam…" protested Daniel wearily

"Daniel"

She didn't have to tell him it was an order not a request and he sat back and leaned against the tree too weak to be bothered to argue with her. Sam tapped the weapon which was attached awkwardly to his vest but pushed to the side because of his arm.

"Keep any eye out for our other friend" she muttered before forcing herself to stand.

For the next twenty minutes or so she spent her time busily collecting wood together. She hoped it wasn't too damp to start a fire, she wasn't sure what kind of warmth the evening would provide. After the heavy rainfall they had experienced earlier the air had cleared and there was slight warmth to it, but it could all change when the sun finally settled. Their clothes were still damp also, and it wouldn't provide a comfortable night. She dumped the sticks and wood she'd foraged in a pile in the small clearing they'd found, before searching about for some small rocks to contain the fire. Leaving them in the small space also, she busied herself cutting down some of the dense thick leaves of some of the forests bush life. Having no blankets or shelter, she figured lying on the soft leaves and covering themselves up with them would at least provide some comfort. It wasn't the Hilton, but she guessed it would at least be a perk to talk about once they got home.

She piled the leaves up near Daniel and Cameron and then turned her attention back to creating the fire. Quickly getting the foliage in place, she searched her vest and found the matches, hoping the damp hadn't settled too far into the wood. Thankfully after a few moments of hesitation, the soft gentle crackling of burning leaves and twigs greeted her ears and she sat back in relief. She moved back to where Daniel and Cameron were, both watching her intently.

"So Martha Stewart, what's for supper?" mumbled Cameron, as she crouched by him

Sam gave him a small smile and started laying out some of the leaves on the ground.

"Well I don't know yet, gotta move you first" she replied, glancing to check on Daniel who was watching her closely "Your lying on the provisions"


	7. Chapter 7

Soon after Sam had Cameron settled as comfortable as possible and after a shot from the zat gun, the fire had roared into life. The night had set in, and she resorted to torchlight as she organised the provisions. She doubted they'd be stuck on the planet another day, but she still kept enough rations to last them just in case anymore bad luck decided to grace them with its presence. Eventually she allowed herself to rest, settling down beside Daniel and leaning by the thick tree trunk by him. 

"You ok?" asked Daniel softly as she sat close by him

"Yeah I'm good" replied Sam tiredly, chewing slowly on a food bar "How's your arm?"

"Ok if I don't move it too much" replied Daniel with a sigh "Sure your ok?"

Sam shifted and leaned against him, glad of his presence.

"Yeah"

"Sam..."

"Daniel"

"You know you've been running in Colonel mode for hours now" said Daniel softly

"I know," said Sam wearily, briefly resting her head on his shoulder "It's in my job description"

"You gonna take a break?" asked Daniel

"Think I'm doing that" replied Sam

"You know I'm finding the tittle of Colonel tends to bring out the sarcasm in people," said Daniel, resting his cheek on her head.

Sam allowed herself a smile and took another bite from the bar.

"I learned from the best," she mumbled

"So think we've got far to go?" asked Daniel

"Hopefully not, possibly a good half days walk ahead of us. Hopefully the prior will stay out of our way during that time"

"Yeah I wonder what he's doing here? Not like there's any civilisation here"

"Well we know that because we can send in malps and UAVs. The Priors tend to enjoy their solitary exhibitions. You'd think the Ori would send them only to inhabited planets. Would make sense, if they're so in touch to each other that is" mused Sam

"Perhaps there are natives to this planet, beyond our sweeps" replied Daniel

"Perhaps, or perhaps they are up to something completely different. Either way, at the moment, we can't do anything about it"

They sat silently for some time, and Sam found her eyes growing heavy. She sat up slightly and looked over to Cameron, bringing up her knees to stand. Daniel lay a hand gently on her leg.

"Sam you should rest"

She paused and smiled at him as he cast a look of concern to her, dropping her hand over his softly.

"I'm going to check on Cameron, add some more wood to the fire" she watched as he shifted slightly wincing in pain "And get you some more painkillers"

Giving his fingers a reassuring squeeze, she stood and picked up a few pieces of wood propping them up against the fire. Then she crouched down by Cameron, running fingers over his brow. He opened his eyes tiredly at her touch.

"Hey, how you doing?" she asked

"Just peachy" said Cameron "Except..."

Sam looked at him worried as his words trailed off.

"Cam..."

"It's nothing that can't..."

"Mitchell?"

Sam gave him a stern look mixed with concern.

"Nature is calling" replied Cameron under his breath

Rolling her eyes, Sam gave a sigh and tries to suppress a smile.

"God damn, couldn't have stayed unconscious could I" muttered Cameron

"What, and cause me even more concern" replied Sam softly "Give a girl a break here"

"Yeah well, it's not like you haven't been busting a gut already..." said Cameron

"Look I know you're in a lot of pain, but if we can get you standing..." started Sam

Cameron looked sheepish as he pondered the thought, and Sam found herself being highly amused by the whole predicament.

"All I'm gonna to is prop you by a tree Mitchell, I'll safely leave you to your own devices after that, unless of course you need..."

"Yeah that'd be fine" replied Cameron with swift interruption.

"Ok give me a moment," said Sam, pulling one of the packs closer and searching the contents.

Pulling out the med kit, she took two painkillers out and picked up one of the water bottles, turning and manoeuvring herself next to Daniel who sat not far from her position. He sat, eyes closed, but Sam didn't miss the painful frown settled on his brow as he dozed. She lay a hand on his shoulder to rouse him.

"Daniel, here's the meds" she said, handing him the water bottle and pills as he stirred at her touch. "I'll be right back"

"What's going on?" asked Daniel, wondering where she was heading off too

"Mitchell needs a bathroom break"

Daniel raised a brow and was about to say something, before deciding against it. Instead he popped the pills and took a drink from the water bottle, choosing to keep sarcasm and comments to himself as Sam crouched down by Cameron, helping him sit up. Cameron muttered under his breath and Sam was finding he had a stash of expletives he enjoyed muttering under certain circumstances. She ignored his groan of pain as she braced herself and stood, dragging him up beside her. He bent over in pain and she pulled an arm further about her neck.

"Maybe this was a bad idea" groaned Cameron not missing the look Daniel cast over to him

"When you gotta go, you gotta go" said Sam, propelling them forward with some difficulty as Cameron limped weakly beside her.

"Yeah well, you'd think with broken ribs… crap… and, god damn...and sprained ankle," the rest of his sentence was swallowed up with enough swears to make the marines blush before he sucked in a breath against the pain

"You know Mitchell, after all you've been through, I thought you'd be able to cope with this" said Sam with a smile as they made a small walk across the clearing, the torch jerkily showing them the way as she shone it in front of them.

"Thank you for your concern Doc" groaned Cameron

"Your welcome" replied Sam, as they reached a rather large tree trunk, opposite where they'd set up the camp "Ok Colonel, private restroom as per your request"

"You know, I never knew you were…"

"Mitchell, just shut up and go please" said Sam cutting him off with a smile. "I'll be right over there, just holler when you're done"

She moved off to give him some personal space and turned to look over to the small camp they'd set up. The fire cast an eerie light out about it, and she could barely make out Daniel resting by the tree. The fire looked inviting, and she felt suddenly weary as she stood in the darkness. She ran her fingers along the back of her neck and took the solitary moment to consider their predicament such as it was.

Cameron seemed a little better after the meagre meal. She had doubted the painkillers would help any and she assumed they merely took a little of the pain he was in away. Despite her thoughts on the prior, and having fleetingly thought about staying awake for sometime throughout the night as a lookout, she highly doubted any of them could stay awake for any period of time. They needed rest, her body was aching and protesting at the abuse she'd put it through the past hours. What she wouldn't give for a warm bath and her double bed but she pushed the thought aside. For the time being, getting them home within the next day was all she cared about.

* * *

_(Thanks for all the reviews, you kind people have been leaving for me. The muse seems to be thriving on them, and I'm really enjoying writing this fic. Promise the next installment will cover somemore of the past rather than their present predicament, keep enjoying and thanks again...Sara Lou xx)_


	8. Chapter 8

_16 Hours Earlier_

They had emerged from the tunnel into a larger expanse, surrounded by high cliffs on both sides, and a narrow path snaking between. Sam had summarised that they were now at the base of the crevice, and had scouted out the immediate area. She had found no foreseeable access to ascending the cliff walls. Making her way back to where she'd left the two men started making a plan in her mind.

Cameron was sitting against the cliff wall where she had left him, head-lolling forward slightly as he pressed his hand to his head; Daniel sat beside him, seemingly a little more alert. Looking upwards, the heavy mist seemed to hover above them, making it impossible to see the sky, creating almost a bubble like dome to look up into from their position. The thunder still rolled on, sounding distant but echoing about the narrow walls they were surrounded by. Sam could still feel minor vibrations running along the walls if she pressed her hands to the wall, and wondered how many tunnels and passageways may have been hewn into the rocks. She halted in front of the two men and summarised their situation, thinking aloud.

"The path leads further into the crevice if we head that way" she said, pointing her weapon in the general southerly direction of the path. "That way, the path leads into the tree line and up, I think that will be our safest bet. The radios won't penetrate through this rock, so even if the SGC do send teams, we need to be higher in order to make contact with them"

She paused, her mind whirring ahead, and taking in the state of both men before her. There was no way Cameron was going to be able to walk by himself, getting him out of the tunnel had been bad enough. He had definite concussion, was grumbling about pains in his chest, possibly a broken rib or two, and had badly twisted his ankle in his fall. He'd explained to the both of them that the roof had fallen badly about him and he'd been caught badly in the shower of rock and stones, which had scattered down about him. Daniel's arm was severely injured, probably broken and he cradled it bent up to his chest with his good arm, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"I'm thinking we follow the path up, and through the forest. The tree line followed us all the way here from the Stargate, albeit at a distance. If we can find our way back to the fields we came through, we should able to gather our bearings enough to get back to the Stargate"

Cameron didn't respond to anything she said. Daniel mildly nodded his head in agreement. Sam crouched onto one knee in front of Cameron and gently lifted his face to hers.

"Cameron," she said gently, his eyes were glassy and unresponsive "We gotta go ok...it's not far along the path. Once we get to forestry I can try and come up with a way of transporting you. But sitting here, I can't do anything for you...we gotta move from here...I need you to try and walk with me"

He merely closed his eyes a moment and opened them again. Sam took it as an understanding of what she was saying. Without moving she glanced over to Daniel.

"Daniel you ready to move out?" she asked

"Yeah" was all he said, nodding as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Ok lets go" whispered Sam under her breath and positioning herself with one of Cameron's arms slung over her shoulders. She propelled them upwards and he instinctively wrapped his free arm about his chest in response to the pain he was obviously suffering.

It was a painstakingly slow process. Sam had to stop every few minutes or so, to let Cameron lean against the crevice walls. He could barely walk and each step was painful, and she was surprised he could even take the few steps he did. He didn't speak, seeming almost on an autopilot and she kept endearing him with words of encouragement that it wasn't far to go. In all honesty the treeline was a good ten minutes away, but with the slowness of their manoeuvring, it took more than forty to reach their destination. By the time they reached where the path entered the forestry, Sam's back was aching from the strain of having half dragged half carried Cameron's weight the short way. A few large boulders, overgrown with moss and plants lay just a few steps into the trees and Sam settled Cameron gently down on one of them, taking a moments rest on another. Daniel settled by the both of them.

Scouting the pathway as she sat, it weaved throughout the trees, on an upward path. The path itself was overgrown but visible, and Sam knew it was going to be a difficult walk. There was no way she could manoeuvre Cameron through it on foot, so she'd have to come up with a different way of getting him through. She un hooked the pack from her back, and removed Daniel's first. Searching quickly through one, she pulled out a med kit, prioritising the task at hand. Taking out the painkillers she handed some to Daniel, with a flask, before turning to Cameron, who was leaning back against the boulders, his eyes half open half closed. The gash on his head had stopped bleeding, and Sam set to work cleaning it up somewhat, before wrapping a bandage about it.

"Ok Daniel" she said, turning back to him "Lets see what we can do about that arm"

She set out another bandage from the kit, and stood scouting the forest floor, before picking up a sturdy couple of sticks. She quickly set his arm, bandaging it between the two sticks, before setting it into a sling. She paused a moment and looked at Daniel for reassurance that it wasn't hurting too much.

"Could be better," she said to him with a shrug as he looked over her handiwork

"Could be worse too," reassured Daniel, glancing over to Cameron. "Any thoughts on how we're going to get along that path"

Sam shrugged and looked about her, wracking her brains.

"I'm going to have create a stretcher of some sort I think" she said , once more thinking aloud "Should be able to wrangle something up, using the packs and whatever wood I can find"

_14 Hours Earlier_

Sam stood back and looked over the makeshift stretcher with a raised brow. She shivered and glanced about, as the mist finally descended down from above and started to surround them. Daniel had watched on silently as she'd worked, as she'd scoured the area for some decent enough logs to work with. She'd thankfully found something decent to work with and had used the two packs for length and to maximise comfort. With ribbon cuffs usually kept for apprehending the bad guy, Sam had used them to bind the stretcher together and had padded it with thick leaves growing from one of the varied plant life growing about them.

It wasn't her best creation, but it would do. She prayed it wouldn't fall to bits on their trek, and knew it was still going to be a difficult process. But she also knew despite her best efforts, that half dragging half-carrying Cameron alone would be an even worse idea. Her mind had whirred over wanting Teal'c present numerous times. He'd have been great help, not only a physical strength, but emotionally as well. It was times such as these she realised how used she was to him being around, and how much she missed him when he wasn't. Still there as no point in wishing, and she pushed aside the thoughts, instead pulling Cameron into a sitting position.

"Cameron" she said, as he opened his eyes and growled in painful response "Care to take a ride?"

He seemed barely aware of her words, and didn't respond to her trying to make light of their situation. Instead she sat by him on the rock and pulled his arm about her shoulders once more, before pushing them both to their feet. He gave another groan of frustration, as she manoeuvred herself around, before slowly lowering them both to the ground, settling him onto the stretcher. He moved slowly and cautiously, as she helped him lie down. She ran a hand gently over his forehead as he closed his eyes, brow furrowing slightly. Sam had hoped the pain meds would have helped ease the pain he was in, but they didn't seem to be taking much effect.

"Ready Daniel?" asked Sam rising and looking over to Daniel who had been following her every mood silently. He merely nodded and took her offered outstretched arm, as she pulled him to his feet.

"You going to manage?" he asked, nodding towards Cameron

"Better than the alternative" replied Sam, "This is what I'm trained for"

"Sam..."

"We'll take it slow and easy Daniel" said Sam, turning swiftly and positioning herself by the stretcher "Lets just hope this mist doesn't impair our view too much, or turn into anything worse"


	9. Chapter 9

_Present_

Sam woke with a jolt; her eyes flying open, before squinting in the early morning light starting break through the high branches above. Her body ached as she pushed herself upward to sit, and she scanned the surroundings with a vague awareness of where she was. It took her a few moments to gather her thoughts, and she wondered at what had woken her. Her eyes rested on Daniel who sat by the tree trunk he seemed to have grown quite fond of. The fire was softly rustling back to life and she assessed that he'd been a wake for a while.

"Morning" he said softly as she stood and stretched her back before walking over to him, a quick glance in Cameron's direction confirming he was still asleep. She sat down by him, taking the food bar he offered to her.

"Morning" she replied, running a hand through her hair softly, "You been awake long?"

"Not long," replied Daniel, offering her the water flask also "You ok, you woke there with a bit of a jolt"

"Bad dream" replied Sam, mottled visions crowding her thoughts

Daniel looked at her with a raised brow but didn't press her with any questions pertaining to the dream.

"How's your arm?" asked Sam

"Painkillers finally seem to be kicking in, I slept ok considering" said Daniel "Think we'll make it back today?"

"God I hope so" said Sam with a sigh "Looks like the good weather may grace us with its presence, for the time being anyway"

She looked upwards squinting as sunlight peeped through the thick tree branches.

"And hopefully the Prior won't grace us with his" replied Daniel

Sam merely nodded and glanced at her watch, it seemed it was early by both earth and the present planets standard. They sat side by side for a few minutes in silence, waking up to the day ahead. The night had revived both of them somewhat, and Sam eventually stood once more.

"I'm going to gather our bearings, scout out the area, I won't be long" she said, reattaching her weapon to the clip on her front of her vest, she waved in the general direction of her radio, also attached to her vest "Keep in contact"

Daniel nodded and she turned, momentarily crouching by Cameron and checking his vitals. She gave a silent sigh of relief at finding everything to be satisfactory considering, and she left him to his rest. Pausing for a moment at the edge of the clearing they'd set up their base, she gathered her bearings, checking her watches compass and assessing where they'd branched off from their route the previous night.

Tracing back their steps, she scouted out the treeline and headed for it, cautiously, aware their 'friend' could appear at any given moment, any place at any time. The dream had un-nerved her, and she spent the time alone, re-assessing herself and the goal for the day. The dream had been merely mottled visions of the previous days events, mangled into various scenes of differing outcomes.

She'd been back in the cave, Parker's dead body standing upright, it's stance in an unnatural gait and the Prior had lurked in the shadows, speaking chanting silent words. The roof had been falling in around her, somewhere along a tunnel Daniel and Cameron were trapped, and the Prior had approached, staff glowing, causing more destruction. She'd merely been jolted from her dream as rocks had fallen roughly about her, breaking her dream in a violent haze.

Sam shook the images from her mind and forced herself to concentrate at the job at hand. Getting home. Approaching the treeline, she clicked her radio into response a few times as she crouched by a thick tree trunk.

"This is Colonel Carter of SG-1, anyone receiving this message please respond"

The only reply was radio static and Sam disregarded the radio for a moment, instead pulling her small binoculars from a pocket and scoping out the view. In the easterly direction where they'd come from, she could see the rise of the large expansive fields lifting up to the high cliffs in the distance. She breathed a sigh of relief, seeing how far they'd actually come the previous afternoon.

Sweeping her view over the terrain, she picked up no signs of the Prior, but knew it didn't mean he wasn't still around, and she'd take every precaution to avoid his attention. She took the momentary halt, to assess her direction once more, calculating their direction and aim using her compass and view as a guide. Woods weren't the best of areas to manoeuvre through, especially off the beaten trail. Still they were making good progress, and Sam was confident with her findings to assess that they'd be home hopefully early afternoon.

Happy with her assessment of the situation, such as it was, she made another cursory sweep of the terrain before trying radio contact once more on the off chance of any help having come through. Despite knowing the try was futile, she wasn't one to not exhaust every possible avenue. Receiving the familiar static as before, Sam retreated back into the safety of the plantation growing about her and made her way back to Daniel and Cameron's position, finding Cameron sitting up somewhat on her return.

"Was beginning to think you'd gone on without us," said Cameron flashing her a sly smile, as he ate the mediocre breakfast bar Daniel had presented him with.

"Oh come on Mitchell...do you really think I'd leave without Daniel"

Sam flashed him a smile of her own, before giving him a glance over.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better actually, if that's possible. Hey I'm awake at least, right?" said Cameron, shrugging his shoulders, before frowning slightly with the pain

"That's a good thing?" mumbled Daniel, suppressing a smile of his own.

"Well you two seem to be back to your usual jaunty selves, what say we get back underway," said Sam, eager to get back on the trail. Despite their outward appearance, the two were still injured and in much need of medical attention.


	10. Chapter 10

11 Hours Earlier

Progress was slow, and tiring, and Sam's body was already starting to become painfully aware of the strain she was putting upon herself. Thankfully the path was easy to follow, although cumbersome and narrow. It weaved like a snake left and right in an upwards direction, along the steep incline of forest terrain, and every few paces, glancing sideways Sam could see the high cliffs rising above them through the thick tree branches. Thankfully the path stayed clear, but as they came to a short halt, pausing for breath, Sam and Daniel exchanged and apprehensive glance as they looked ahead.

The thick mist was already starting to roll slowly down the side of the incline they were trying to ascend and Sam doubted they'd get too far, before they were in the midst of it. However, determined, she reaffirmed her grip on the stretcher and continued on, head down, taking it one step at a time. As they continued, painstakingly slow on the uphill walk, Sam watched as mist started to gather at their ankles, rolling eerily along its way downwards. At first it settled about them, giving them enough ability to see their way, but as they reached halfway, Sam knew she had to call a halt to their climb, lest they lost their way. Worst still, if they continued on blindly they could end up falling and or tumbling down the terrain they were climbing.

Setting the stretcher down softly to the ground, Sam leaned down and checked on Cameron, he'd been quiet to a degree, although she knew the knocking and jerking of the stretcher hadn't been any comfort to him and his condition. Every few minutes, she'd heard harsh intakes of breath, but he hadn't given voice to his complaint thankfully. As he lay on the ground, the mist impairing vision of any sorts, he closed his eyes and lay quietly. Daniel settled himself nearby and Sam sat between them, staring into nothingness, mere grey white cloud.

As they sat, Sam's mind whirred over the day's events. An ordinary mission turned sour, shouldn't be much of a shock to the system. She let out a sigh and leaned her head back on the thick trunk they were leaning against, as her thoughts tried to assimilate some kind of reason for the consequences that had befell them. It wasn't unheard of for weather to change so dramatically in such a short time, the thunder had un-nerved her, and the effects it had had on the terrain more so. Of course the ruined temple looked as if it had had to deal with such events before, slowly succumbing to the nature of the terrain it had been built on, between crevice and high cliffs.

Reflecting on her first thought o the temple, it now seemed to have had a vulnerable presence to it. Dwarfed by high cliffs on both upper and lower sides. She pondered silently on what findings Daniel would have come up with, had he been given more time. Why would a civilisation, natives, a colony have built a temple in such a vulnerable spot?

Perhaps she had been correct in her thinking, perhaps the weather change only happened at certain times of the year, and at first the temple would have stood solidly, despite being shook to its foundations by vibrations of thunder and minor shock waves. Or perhaps the people, who built it, had been unaware of its fate until too late. She screwed up her forehead in disagreement with herself. The passageway down through the crevice had been built for a reason, perhaps that very reason, as a means of escape. Or perhaps it had been hewn into the rock, when the temple was being built, to give access to the natives from wherever they came from. The path was old and well used, overgrowth proved it had been unused for some time, but it was still visible and useable enough.

Sam wondered if they'd ever reach a full conclusion. She was sure she and Daniel would have a in-depth conversation at some point or other about it, but as she felt a heavy but comforting presence rest itself on her shoulder, she knew now was not the time. She opened her eyes, and pressed her cheek into his hair a moment, resting her head on his, the mist restricted all but the closest view, and she could barely make out Cameron lying by her.

Her eyes followed the unseen path along the direction they'd come from. Restraining a shudder of guilt, she pressed away images of the young Lt lying in the darkness of the caves they'd escaped from. Now was not the time to deal with guilt and ill feeling of having made decisions, she knew would haunt her for a time. She also guiltily pressed away the voice telling her she was military, a soldier and had been trained for such events and casualties. This line of work, work she'd been doing for nigh on a decade of her life, caused such thoughts to be construed under new light. Training never prepared you fully for casualties, by they of war, or unfortunate un-seeable events such as this. And working, living and ultimately creating new dynamic and intricate friendships and relationships, with the people she had, such as Daniel and Teal'c meant having to just deal was a whole new matter.

It was times like these over the years, which had ultimately changed and rearranged her as a person. Her perspective and outlook had also changed, forever shaped by people in her life, especially an important three. Sam never really intricately looked at the details of her relationships with Daniel, Teal'c and the General. She just knew she couldn't; now be a complete person without them. Despite changes in their working lives, promotions and such did that from time to time, they were still inextricably linked. Sam knew this was one of the main reason she was deeply missing Teal'c's presence as they three sat huddled waiting for whatever next the day wished to throw at them.

She wasn't disconcerted that she wasn't missing O'Neill. He was forever a voice in all of their heads, as if, despite his lack of presence, they just knew what his opinion on such an occasion would be. Had he been present, she'd probably be having to listen to him grumble about their current state of events, the chain of events which had led them to such state, and be giving up a few 'For crying out louds' in the process. She chuckled softly and wasn't surprised that in such a predicament as they were in, he could still make her feel a little lighter about the situation.

"Something amusing?" mumbled Daniel absentmindedly, from where he rested his head against her.

"I was just thinking about what General O'Neill would be doing right now if he were here" replied Sam softly

"God he'd could be hell at moments like this" sighed Daniel "I'm sure he'd be griping on about something or other seeing as nothing seems to be going right"

"Yeah that pretty much sums up what I was thinking"

"You just know he's going to be on at me about this whole experience when we get back, I can just imagine the phone call now" said Daniel "Hey Daniel, so I heard you managed to get yourself a broken arm. How many times have we had the conversation on old temple ruins, there's a reason they are abandoned ya know"

Sam could hear the light tone in his voice, and smiled.

"Perhaps we should actually start taking heed of some of his more wiser critiques"

"What and admit he's sometimes right?" asked Daniel with a sigh "Then there'd be no living with him"

Sam gave another light laugh and sighed, leaning her head back onto the tree trunk again, Daniel shifted slightly and she felt his hair tickling against the skin of her neck.

"We're not doing too bad without him are we" stated Daniel quietly

"No were not doing too bad at all. I think Cam fits in quite well with us, he's got just about as bad a sense of humour as the rest of us. His quirks give Teal'c something to ponder about, and you still have someone to verbally spar with" said Sam

"And you continue to get us out of awkward situations" replied Daniel "Our lives are complete"

They fell silent once more, glad of each others company as the mist refused to waver to allow them to continue on. It merely settled about them, and Sam grew tired and impatient of having to wait. 

After another thirty minutes, small chit chat exchanged between them, they heard the overhead rumblings once more, and merely sat as the noise echoed about them. But as the noise grew louder and more intense, the mist started to dissipate slowly. Sam took this as their cue to start moving again, as the path finally started to come into view. Standing and stretching their aching tired limbs, Sam checked on Cameron who had succumbed to tiredness. Lifting the stretcher once more, they continued on their way, Daniel leading them but sticking close as the mist evened out but still impaired their view somewhat.

As they walked, ascending higher up the terrain, the mist started to moisten their skin and clothes; the rumblings grew less frequent and intense above them. Continuing further, the terrain eventually started evening out, leading them away from the high cliffs the forest inclined by. Sam frequently stopped for rest, checking their direction, keeping a mental reference of where they were headed, as the mist started to slowly expire, being replaced instead by a fine drizzle.

Daniel seemed as doggedly determined as she to carry on, despite the weather changing from cold mist to fine rain and marched steadfastly on ahead of her, arm carefully held against his chest. They spoke little, except to offer each other words of encouragement as they rested at moments. Cameron had not woken and Sam was concerned about his injuries, but she could do nothing for him trapped on a deserted planet in the middle of a wood, which was slowly turning into a rainforest.

As she had feared the rain, starting off fine and drizzly started getting worse, and small drops started pelting down slowly at her getting faster and heavier. She knew it could be mere moments before the heavens opened and relinquished its true glory, and Daniel paused on the path ahead of her, weary of the walking and the wet weather. Sam paused beside him, the rain soaking her through, droplets making small paths down her face. She shook her head, trying to clear some of the water from her hair and jerked her head towards the large trees and plants growing on the wayside.

"We'd best take cover, I doubt this is the worst of it" she said to Daniel, shivering as the cold rain found its way down her neck.

Daniel merely nodded gritting his teeth and moving off. Sam scouted the immediate area, and pulled the stretcher to lie under the enormous overgrowing leaves of a plant, it offered limited shelter, but hopefully enough to keep them protected somewhat. She settled herself by Cameron, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms about them, trying to stave off the cold, as the rain feel heavily about her unceasingly. 


	11. Chapter 11

_Present_

The going was tough, following an invisible trail through a jungle forest was no easy task, and dragging a stretcher along the way wasn't helping matters. Having gained some strength from rest and food, Cameron had become a Doctors worse nightmare, increasingly vocal about the whole affair. Taking back ever thinking O'Neill was the worst patient to grace a doctors infirmary, Sam merely ignored his comments such as they were and continued on, flashing Daniel a roll of the eyes when he paused to look back at the two.

"You know, after all the technology you've discovered over the years, you'd think handy fold-able stretchers would be available" muttered Cameron, after a particular jolt over a thick tree root, which jutted out under foot.

Sam merely gritted her teeth and jerked the stretcher harder over the tree root, receiving a cursory growl of pain from Cameron.

"I'm sorry we couldn't accommodate you better Mitchell" she muttered back to him, pausing as Daniel rested by a tree trunk, before they continued on

"Look I'm sorry for complaining but…god damn." Yelped Cameron, Sam heard a scuffling coming from behind her as Cameron fought with a rather large plant she had to drag him close by on their way "Damn plants, any idea why the hell these things are so big?"

Sam couldn't help but allow a small smile to play at the corners of her mouth. Cameron was becoming a mouthy patient and although she felt sorry for what he as going through, his continuous griping was starting to grate on her already fraying nerves.

"Cameron, you've been hurt in the field before, you always complain this loudly?" asked Sam

"Getting hurt in the field is a little different to getting caught in a rock fall. Ow…OK that hurt"

The soldier fell silent; save for hisses of breath and mumbling incoherently, words Sam would rather not hear in the first place. The day was getting on and they were all becoming irritated with the trek, but for now they could do nothing about it but keep going.

"How far we got to go?"

"I don't know"

"Take a guess"

Sam pursed her lips, and took a deep breath.

"Couple of hours" she replied

"Two or three?"

"Maybe"

"So it could turn into three or four" pressed Cameron

Sam considered turning and flipping the stretcher right there and then in the middle of the forest. She fought back the thought and started counting to ten slowly in her head.

"Sam?" Cameron was waiting for an answer

"Yes, perhaps three or four"

"So two to four hours, maybe?"

"Mitchell"

Sam halted in her steps and jerked the stretcher a moment, grabbing his attention, as he hissed a groan in response.

"I have been dragging your ass through this jungle the past, I don't know how many hours now. I'm tired, hungry, and my body is screaming at me to drop hold of this stretcher, which, against my better judgement, I'm ignoring for now. I will get us home, be it two hours, four hours, tonight or tomorrow if needs be, however be assured, I will get us home. So quit your moaning, or you can walk the rest of the way…do I make myself clear Colonel"

She eyed Daniel, who gave her a raised eyebrow look, before turning head down, continuing on. Sam merely stood there waiting for a reply.

"Yes Ma'am"

She sighed, gave herself a invisible pat on the back and continued forward.

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(Yeah I know, a short little chapter this time, but I'm updating this as I go and this just suddenly came to me, before I decided to give this fic a rest for the night, having already updated once today. Just want to say, yet again, a big big big, huuuuge thank you for your reviews. They have been very kind, encouraging, and yes, I'm myself and the muse are trying our best to answer the imploring, More Please reviews peeps have been leaving! Hope this sates the appetite somewhat, I can't seem to get away from this fic, I've already written the end, just have to get the rest of the fic there! I won't spoil it for you, you'll just have to wait. thanks again, shan't keep you any longer, you'll just have to wait for the next chapter now..Sara Lou xx) 


	12. Chapter 12

A few hours later, the warmth, which had greeted them the previous day when they'd first reached the planet, penetrated throughout the forest. The day was passing quickly, and Sam felt like they were finally making progress, trying to follow their path in her minds eyes as they trudged on their way. Cameron kept on muttering every now and then, but had taken heed to warnings and bitten his tongue somewhat to voicing his opinion on the whole matter, out loud at least. Sam had felt a small pang of guilt at her small outburst, but it had gotten him quiet and she could set her mind on getting through the forest. 

The whole affair was bad for all of them, and she didn't want to spend another night on the planet. They need rest, medical attention, decent food and the water supply was fading fast. She had marched steadily on, head down, save for every few steps glancing up to see which way Daniel was headed. Pausing, Sam scanned the forest, and noticed they'd arched back towards the treeline itself.

"Daniel"

He paused and turned back to her, as she arched her head towards the treeline, beyond which glimpses of the vast field like network.

"We're definitely going in the right direction?"

Sam had full confidence in his following the direction she'd set, via compass and keeping mind they had to stay in the safe undercover of trees. However having strayed this close to the treeline, she had to ask. She watched as he looked at his wrist, for the compass direction.

"Yeah, we're definitely on the right track"

Sam's heart skipped a beat and she couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Which means, we must be getting close to the gate. I set us on a trajectory, which would hopefully bring us near to the point we exited the forest into the open plain. If were getting closer to the treeline, we must be close to the path which brought us out."

"So we find the path, we follow it in the opposite direction..." started Cameron from behind her

"We get to the gate" finished Daniel with a smile.

Sam merely nodded

"We just gotta find the path," she added to herself as Daniel turned to start walking once more

Despite being weary and wanting rest, Sam put on foot in front of the other and continued on. Being this close to hopefully their goal, she didn't want to waste any time in getting there. She knew that if they carried on, at some point they had to cross the path, which led through the trees to the gate. The forest curved right around the open plains of the planet, and they had basically walked a straight line through them when they'd first arrived.

As she mused on her thoughts, head down, pushing away the pain, which was searing through her arms and upper body, she frowned as she bumped forcefully into Daniel who had stopped mid step.

"Daniel" she started, but he silenced her with a raised hand

She gave him a questioning look, as he looked ahead of them, peering through the trees. She followed his look, warily, trying to pick up on whatever he had, but nothing came to her attention.

"Daniel..." trying once more to get some answers, keeping her tone low

"I thought I heard something" replied Daniel with a shrug, in an equally low voice

Sam looked about her once more, before lowering the stretcher to the ground.  
Cameron looked up at the two, with a raised brow, wondering what was going on. Sam readied her weapon and stood by Daniel once more.

"I'll go scout out ahead..."

"Sam it could be nothing"

"Or it could be something Daniel...We haven't come this far, just for someone to ambush us, Prior or otherwise" said Sam, unwilling to take any chances. So far on their trek, nothing had come to their attention, to make them wary of who or what was around them, so she was taking Daniel's concern quite seriously.

"I'll come with you"

Sam merely rolled her eyes in his direction and he admitted defeat as she cast an eye over his condition.

"At least stay in contact," he said with a slightly defeated air

"Hopefully the radios will work, this part of the forest is pretty dense. Just stay out of sight and keep an eye on Mitchell"

"Mitchell can keep an eye on himself" muttered Cameron from the stretcher

Sam and Daniel exchanged glances before Sam turned and made her way strategically through the trees, alert for any signs of visitors. After weaving her way through the dense network of trees and shrubs of various sizes, she happened upon a path, which she summarised to be the one they'd followed on first arrival. She checked her watch and made mental notes of her position, before scouting the pathway from the confines of plantation.

Pressing her fingers to her radio, she was about to radio Daniel when she tensed, her ears having picked up on sound of movement to her left. She lowered her hand back to her gun and peered to her left, but saw nothing in her peripheral view.

Listening carefully, she retreated further back into the undergrowth, and changed her direction, slowly manoeuvring, circling where the sound was coming from whilst at the same time keeping some distance between herself and it. She took up position near a clutch of thick trees and scoured the area for any signs of movement. It was then she noticed a movement through the trees, it disappeared as quickly as she picked up on it and her senses went on high alert. Her fingers slipped back to her radio, merely to turn the switch, in case Daniel tried to contact her and gave her own position away.

Taking a breath she summarised the situation. Someone was in the forest, being as stealthy as she, trying to stay out of sight. They could be following her, as much as she thought she was following them. Or they could be completely unaware of her and be doing something of their own accord. Sam doubted herself on the latter option, but she was admittedly someone who tried to see all the sides.

She frowned at her questioning mind and changed to tactics. Peering out from her position, she tried to pick up on their movements once more. After more than a minute, they finally gave themselves away as Sam's sharp eyes picked up on a slight movement through the trees directly ahead of her. She mentally followed the position she'd first noticed movement, to where she noticed the second to figure out their direction. Sam doubted this was the prior who was moving through the forest for whatever reason. It just didn't seem to be their style, however she couldn't be sure. Still she needed a good look at the other body to assess whether they were friend or foe. For that she need to get closer, whilst staying hidden, as well as determining whether they were aware of her presence or moving through the forest freely of their own volition.

She started to move staying huddled close to the forest floor, her mind constantly keeping mental note of her manoeuvres, so as not to get lost in the woods. Once away from the clutch of trees she kept to the overgrowing plantation which had surrounded her hours long trek, the other being was moving cautiously but away from her, and she summarised back to the path she'd came from. Sam found herself getting cautiously near to the other body; still unable to get a clear view, the dense branches and plantation made any decent view obsolete.

Her breath hitched and she pressed herself to the ground as she heard movement this time from behind. Swallowing silent curses, she quietly slid herself to an upright position and held her breath, the movement ahead of her had stopped and she heard nothing. She was aware of movement, but neither heard nor saw it, she just knew she was being watched. Her heart was beating hard in her chest and she took deep breaths to slow it, aware of the usual adrenaline rush she felt in such situations.

Agonisingly slow seconds passed as Sam weighed up her choices. Retreat back to Mitchell and Daniel. But if someone had made her position, she could lead them all into danger. She could head off whomever it was, lead them away from the two men. But if an altercation occurred and she was hurt, there was no way of knowing whether she'd be able to communicate with them, and they wouldn't be able to make it back to the gate by themselves. She could try and make contact with those shadowing her, but again, if they were foe rather than friend, it didn't bode well for any of them. It wasn't like the opposition, had made any attempt to make contact or show they were friendly. Sam doubted the element of surprise existed anymore, but she could still try and confront one of them, thus giving the other the option to back down.

Sam became aware of movement retreating away from her, but she was also aware that she sensed someone was still nearby. Perhaps whomever she was up against was trying to bring her out of hiding, by pretending to retreat, then again, if she stayed here the retreating figure would easily come up on her other side, thus boxing her in further. Her head was starting to swim with the possibilities, which seemed endless the more she thought about them. Her body was protesting at all the exertion, she was tired, and even her thinking was starting to wan.

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_(Sorry it took a near week to post another chapter peeps, but life got in the way of things and I didn't get any time to dvote to getting this continued, however hope you enjoyed the new chapter...Thanks as always for the FB/Reviews...and hopefully the next chapter won't be so long in coming as this one...I think we're nearing the end...if the muse and plot bunies don't come up with another predicament to throw in for good measure!...Sara Lou xx)_


	13. Chapter 13

_Minutes later_

Sam felt her head starting to swim as she dropped her weapon from it's poised position and stood with a weary stance. After taking evasive manoeuvres she'd managed to circle round behind the other body, and they'd trapped each other neatly into another clutch of trees. With racing heart and grit or her teeth she'd rounded the thick trunk protecting her, gun raised and aimed at shadows, only to come face to face with a similar weapon pointed towards her. She'd been more aware of the body extending the weapon, and the relief had an almost drowning effect on her and she was faced off with Teal'c, who reflected a similar look in his own eyes.

Neither of them had spoken what seemed like minutes to Sam, although upon reflection she doubted many seconds had passed. Teal'c merely dropped his weapon and looked concerned as she tried to analyse the moment in her mind. It was Teal'c who spoke first, with the soft elegant air which she'd been missing the past few days.

"Colonel Carter" relief was evident in the tone, concern in the eyes.

Sam had to give herself another mental shake and blinked a few moments, wondering if in some way she was sleeping through this all and it was just some trick her mind was playing on her. Before she could grasp hold of the situation, Colonel Reynolds appeared behind Teal'c and stepped forward quickly, lowering his weapon also.

"Colonel Carter" he also exclaimed in surprise.

Teal'c took a few tentative steps towards Sam and stood closer to her.

"Colonel Carter, are you alright?"

Sam snapped out of her surprise and removed her hand from her gun, flexing her fingers before looking up at Teal'c.

"Yes…I'm fine" she started, "I…we were returning to the gate…"

"We, Colonel?" asked Reynolds

"Yes…Cameron and Daniel…"

Sam's words trailed off and she realised, having been hiding under shrubs and behind trees for a good thirty minutes meant the two men would be wondering what the hell was going on. Pulling her eyes from Teal'c and Reynolds, she actively set her mind in motion to repositioning herself.

"Colonel Carter?" started Teal'c as she started walking forward past him

"I have to get back to them, Mitchell's hurt pretty badly, he can't walk. We've had to stretcher him all this way, I think it's cracked ribs and twisted ankle. Daniel's not in too good a shape either, we had to sling his arm" Sam explained as she walked, assuming the two men were behind her.

Her primary thoughts were getting back to Daniel and Cameron. She also had felt on overwhelming relief flooding through her the moment she'd realised help had arrived as Teal'c had stood before her. She feared she'd fall apart completely if she stood telling them of their predicament, and right now she couldn't do that. There'd be time to reflect and offer up thanks to everyone and anyone once they got back to Earth, and at that moment, it was still her aim. As they reached the path once more, she noticed two other members of Reynolds team keeping watch. They looked at the three surprised as they emerged from the brush, but didn't question what had happened.

"Colonel Carter, where are Mitchell and Dr Jackson?" asked Reynolds from behind her

"I had to leave them," Sam started pausing along the pathway and checking her compass "Daniel thought he had heard something and I left them while I came to check it out. Turned out to be you"

"Expecting someone else?" asked Reynolds as they once more left the pathway into the forestry

"We had Prior activity yesterday, so we've had to use the forest as a shield. It made the going tougher but safer also. I didn't want to be almost in reach of the gate, only to come up against a Prior or some other such enemy"

"You've had to walk through all this dense brush"

"Well it isn't all this dense" shrugged Sam "But yeah"

The three fell silent and Sam was just starting to question her mental mapping technique when they came across Daniel and Cameron. Daniel was alert and started to raise his zat when he saw it was Sam, before looking up in surprise at Teal'c and Reynolds.

"I found the cavalry" smiled Sam, as she crouched down by Cameron

"Hey…glad you could join us" offered up Cameron as a way of welcome

Daniel merely stood and continued to look at the two men in surprise.

"It is good to see you both," said Teal'c obviously relieved to have found all three safe and well…or at least safe and alive.

"I'm sure this will make an interesting briefing," speculated Reynolds, taking in the state of the two men "What say we get you all home and then you can explain it all to us"

"Sounds like a plan," said Daniel tiredly, stepping to one side as Reynolds and Teal'c manoeuvred to lift the stretcher.

Sam looked on with a slight concern, wondering if the stretcher would hold up when lifted at both ends. When it held she let out a deep breath, and stepped back to allow them to start moving forward and they started making their way back to the path. Cameron grinned up at her, she couldn't help but smile back in equal relief.

"Well you were right," said Cameron as they reached the path and the going was made much easier

Sam looked down at him questioningly

"Four Hours, eight minutes, and counting" said Cameron, lifting his arm and tapping his watch lightly

Sam pursed her lips, gave him a smile and took his hand in hers softly as she pondered on the past few days.

"Cameron haven't you learned by now…I'm always right"

After ten minutes along the pathway they emerged into the small open cove, the sun beating directly down onto them. Sam flinched, as her eyes had to abruptly get used to the change of light. They'd been walking through forest for two days and it had sufficiently protected them from the powerful rays. Cameron slung his hand over his eyes as he flinched and Sam ducked her head, as did Daniel.

"When did you arrive?" asked Sam to the other team who now accompanied them

"Not long ago Colonel" replied Reynolds "We'd started with a search of the immediate area for you and your team before we started to branch out to the forest. General Landry was going to send another team for further afield reconnaissance if we found no signs of you near the gate. Stargate Command had planned on sending a team through when you didn't report back, but when we connected with the Malp and saw the conditions we had to assume you'd taken up shelter somewhere. The General made the decision to hold off until he conditions cleared, we ultimately had to wait until today to come through."

"Not exactly the type of planet to vacate on" muttered Daniel

"Initial evaluations didn't show up any such weather activity as was encountered" pointed out Reynolds

"Yeah I know" added Sam, "Everything happened rather quickly unfortunately. It hit us at the ruin site and we had no option but to take up shelter there…"

"Which is when all hell broke loose," said Cameron with a groan

No further questions were asked as the three fell silent, each pondering on their own thoughts as to the adventure that they'd come through. One of Reynolds team started dialling at the DHD and Sam watched the gate start to engage.


	14. Chapter 14

_(sorry about the wait peeps, however I was ill for a time and couldn't get any writing done, however back on my feet now, Enjoy xx)_

* * *

**_Three hours later_**

Sam lay on her designated hospital bed, where Carolyn had insisted she take up residence for the rest of the day at least. On arrival back on base, the usual whirlwind of medics rushing the wounded off to the infirmary had occurred. Sam had wearily accepted her greeting of arrival home from the General before being ordered and escorted by him personally to the infirmary where Carolyn had taken a moment from Daniel and Cameron to give Sam a check up and insisted on her immediate rest. Sam had asked the General for an immediate briefing before she took any rest and he had relented to her request, despite Carolyn's protests. Sam had to promise to return immediately after the briefing to rest.

The General had kept the briefing as quickly as possible. Reynolds team SG-3 were present as was Teal'c. They were silent as Sam relayed in as much detail as possible the events, which had taken, place over the last few days, and faces had turned solemn when she spoke of Lt Parker's death. She'd informed the General briefly in private about the Lt's demise before the briefing. After she'd given her account, SG-1 and Teal'c gave an account of their arrival on the planet and the search to locate the missing team. After a few questions from the General he dismissed them. Sam felt a little better having accounted her side of the story while it was fresh in her mind, before she rested. A further briefing would take place when Cameron and Daniel were back on their feet, but for now, all three would require rest.

Sam had returned to the infirmary, where she'd been immediately put to bed and left alone, but she'd been unable to sleep and instead had lain quietly musing over the goings on of the past few days. She was relieved when Teal'c wandered slowly into the infirmary and approached her bed, pulling a stool up beside it, under the watchful eye of Carolyn.

"No visiting for too long Teal'c, Colonel Carter is supposed to be resting" said Carolyn approaching the bed where Sam lay.

Teal'c nodded slightly in acknowledgement as he sat.

"How are Doctor Jackson and Colonel Mitchell?"

"A few broken bones, but nothing too serious. They merely require a lot of bed rest whilst they heal, but hopefully not too much, I'm not sure I can stand Colonel Mitchell's whining for long"

"Yeah, Cameron doesn't seem to be the best of patients" smiled Sam

"Yes well, speak of the devil, I'm off to check on them both right now" replied Carolyn with a smile "Don't stay too long Teal'c. I'll be back to check on you later Colonel"

With that the doctor left the two comrades alone and Teal'c turned his attention to Sam.

"How are you feeling Colonel Carter?" asked Teal'c with slight concern

"Tired, but ok thanks Teal'c. Just glad to be back, it's been a long two days. I've been running in auto pilot for the most part of them, and even then I wasn't entirely sure we were doing the right thing"

"You should have more faith in your abilities, as we do" replied Teal'c

"To be honest I missed you being there with us Teal'c" said Sam "Would have felt safer for one thing, had you have been"

"We had hoped to have reached the planet earlier, but circumstances did not allow. However it seems you would have made it back despite our rescue mission"

"Believe me it was a relief to see you, even if we were that close to the gate"

"I am relieved we found you all in relatively safe conditions"

"Not all of us" replied Sam quietly after a pause

"Indeed" said Teal'c softly, before starting to stand "I will leave you to your rest"

"Actually Teal'c, would you mind staying a little longer, just until I fall asleep" asked Sam, she was grateful of his company, after being without it the past few days when she'd been in great need of it.

Teal'c sat down with a small smile and watched as she lay back into the pillows of the bed and closed her eyes.

**_The Next Day_**

Sam had awoke early morning still in the infirmary feeling refreshed from her sleep and famished. Carolyn had dismissed her from the infirmary but wanted her to stay on base for the day to make sure was she was definitely all right. Sam left the infirmary and had gone to her quarters for a much-needed shower and change of clothes. She then reported straight to the commissary where she was joined by Teal'c for early breakfast. She had returned to the infirmary with him to catch up on Daniel and Cameron's situation but they were both asleep and they had left with Carolyn's promise that she would call them as soon as they were awake.

The two had returned to the commissary where Sam caught up with all the news of the goings on with the Free Jaffa situation from Teal'c. A few hours passed as they discussed the intricacies of setting up the new political system and the prospect of Bra'tac perhaps becoming leader of the free Jaffa in some capacity. Eventually they went their separate ways, having still not heard of the two invalids in the infirmary. Sam retired to her lab, to muse over the odd bit of paperwork, planning on returning to her quarters afterwards for some more rest, she still felt tired from the past days events.

Sitting at her desk, she looked over some of the papers lying before her, silently musing over the past days events once more and glad to be sitting at her desk doing so.

Sam jumped slightly from her silent reverie and eyed the phone as it rang. With a soft sigh she reached over and picked up the receiver, leaning on her elbow, head resting in an upturned hand tiredly.

"Hello?" she said softly

"Hey"

She smiled, having been wondering over the past hours about when he would eventually call.

"Hey Sir" she replied, swivelling slightly in her chair and adjusting her stance slightly to lean better on her hand, her fingers sliding through her blonde hair.

"I heard you went for a trek through the woods"

"Something like that" said Sam, "Why should Hansel and Gretel have all the fun?"

"You ok?"

Sam pondered the question a moment, missions such as the one she'd just pulled through always changed a person, no matter how much they wished to admit it hadn't. She was back home safe and well, she guessed that was ok enough.

"Sure" she replied, trying for upbeat but unable to find the correct words.

"Carter?" the question was pressing, despite the miles, they could have conversations like they were in the room together reading each other like books.

"The outcome could have been better," said Sam, feeling that small stab of guilt somewhere deep inside.

"You got home alive, you got your team home alive"

"Not all of us"

There was a momentary pause, Sam knew Landry would have imparted every detail to the General, who would have been too impatient for their reports, hence the phone call.

"There was nothing you could do"

"I guess not," said Sam, although guilt told her perhaps there was.

"From what Landry told me, you had no choice but take the course of action you did"

"I could have gotten him out of there"

"He was dead Carter"

"I could have tried to revive him...bring him back, he was dead barely a moment, I didn't even try"

Sam didn't feel overly emotional about it, which un-nerved her, it was almost as if she was trying to reassure herself that she'd done the right thing, despite the deep down feeling of wondering could she have done more.

"You got the rest of the team to safety, you had their lives on your shoulders too"

"Yeah, I know," she said with a sigh

"You don't sound convinced"

"What if it had been Cameron, or Daniel lying there. Do you think I would have left them?" she knew she was really asking him, if he'd been in her position, if roles had been different, would he have done the same. Not that it mattered, it was done and she couldn't change it. Perhaps she already knew his answer; an experience from years past was clear in her mind.

"It wasn't"

"No it wasn't" said Sam "But I can't help thinking what if"

"Get used to it, it'll be a question which will follow you around for a while"

"So I just have to deal" asked Sam

There was silence; save for the background noise she could hear through the receiver.

"Yeah I guess you just have to deal..."

"What ever happened to 'you don't leave a man behind'?"

"You get the rest of your team to safety first, and then think about going back, if you have that choice"

"But I didn't go back"

"Because he was gone"

The scene seemed to play slowly through her mind, flashing moments, and different scenarios.

"I could have gotten him out, gone back for the others"

"And what if something happened while you got him out of there? Would you have forgiven yourself if Mitchell of Daniel had been hurt even more because you got him out first"

"I thought about going back"

"But you didn't"

"No I didn't" replied Sam, closing her eyes for a moment tiredly

"Why didn't you?"

"Because..." started Sam, with a sigh, "Because if something had happened to me, when I went back for him, Daniel and Cameron wouldn't have been able to make it out without help"

"You knew you were their only chance"

"They were my responsibility"

There was a long pause and Sam sat up, lowering her hand to fiddle with a pencil lying on the table.

"How they both doing?"

"They'll survive, plenty of bed rest and they'll be back to their usual selves"

"And you're just ok"

"Perhaps I need some bed rest of my own"

"Sitting moping in your lab won't help much"

"I'm not moping" replied Sam a little indignant, but almost hearing the soft smile that spoke the words

"Feeling sorry for yourself won't help either"

"Too tired to do anything else at the moment Sir" said Sam honestly "Can't help but think..."

"I've told you for years, you think to much"

"Is it so easy for you to not think about it?"

"I'm a seasoned vetran at it Carter"

"Is that your way of telling me it gets easier?"

"No... I guess it's my way of saying I know what you're going through"

"I didn't doubt you wouldn't understand Sir"

"You know, you all could give guy a break here and stop getting into so much trouble"

"Strange, I told Mitchell a few days back that we're SG-1... trouble should replace the hyphen"

"You could have at least formed a different numbered team"

"And disappoint Cameron...he is very persuasive...plus he has this pouty look he gives when he wants his own way...reminds me of an old CO of mine"

"I don't pout"

"Of course not Sir" replied Sam with a smile; she missed these types of conversation, they didn't happen as much as they should these days, but she appreciated them even more when they had them

"Are you humouring me Carter?"

"Seasoned vetran at it Sir, had plenty of practice over the years"

"Well I'm heading to the cabin this weekend, and you're going to join me"

"I am?" asked Sam, although the thought of a few days away doing nothing was appealing

"Yup, I need the company and you need the rest"

"You're ordering me to go away for the weekend?"

"Yup"

"If I refuse?"

"Insubordination"

"You'd have me charged?"

"Yup"

Sam suppressed a smile and swivelled slightly in her chair.

"What if the world needs saving?"

"It will have to wait three days, plus it's Teal'c's turn to save the day"

"Guess I'll see you Friday night then"

"Bring beer"

"Wouldn't dream of coming along without it Sir"

"Great, see you Friday"

"Bye Sir"

Sam set the receiver down and smiled softly. The weight hadn't really lifted from her shoulders, but it didn't strain as much either. She knew the weekend would bring on more in depth conversation, and she'd glean some wisdom, despite the General's claims that he had none to offer. She also knew it would be a relaxing break she needed and a chance to filter out her thoughts and set aside some of the guilt she'd be carrying for a while.

Standing she gave up on the paperwork and refused to wait any longer for a phone call. Walking into the corridor, and seeking out Teal'c once more, they made their way to see the two in the infirmary before she made arrangements to go home and prepare for the weekend.

The End

(Thankyou, to all for the wonderful fabulous, very kind Fb/Reviews you've all left. I've enjoyed writing this a whole lot, been a while since I wrote anything of any great length like this, and to have been encouraged all the way by peeps always helps. The muse thrives on FB! Thanks to all and happy reading and writing...Sara Lou xx)


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